Internal-combustion engine.



R. IQIIN'SON. INTERNAL CONIBUSTION ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 23|I9I2.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

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f' y t li 1 INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

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Application filed December 23, 1912. Serial No. 738,236.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that 1,' Ruini-ioni) JOHNSON,

a citizen of Finland, and resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in lnternal-Combustion Engines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to internal coinbustion engines of the two cycletype.

VOne of the objects is the production of an engine operating under anexclusively differential pressure cycle, and wherein the eX- pansion ofthe gases of combustion of an ignitible charge is uninterruptedlycarried on in a closed cylinder .until the pressure is reduced to lessthan that of the intake or atmosphere.

Another object is to provide means for opening the cylinder at or nearthe completion 'of the working cycle lso that a fresh charge at normalintake pressure will spontaneously enter on the same side of the pistonwhere the lowered pressure is produced, by virtue of the differencebetween terminal and intake pressures, when the piston is at or near theend of its outstroke.

Still another object is to employ the inher ent rarefactory state of thegases of combustion at the conclusion of the power stroke to effect theintroduction of a new charge, thereby dispensing with all forms ofmechanical means for producing an artificial condition within thecylinder, whether it be drawing in or forcing a new charge thereinto orforcefully extracting the burnt gases therefrom.

A further 'object is to provide improved means; irst, to admit the newcharge into the cylinder proper directly at its coolest point when thepiston is at or near the end of its outstroke, so as to avoid undulyraising the temperature of this charge; secondly, to cause the admissionof the new as well as theeXit of the burnt charge to take place in thedirection of the return stroke of the piston so as to keep these chargesfrom intermingling; thirdly, to prevent the new charge from reaching theexhaust port in the hottest part of the cylinder until compressionoccurs at the last part of the return stroke, thus insuring properlytimed ignition; and fourthly, tomake the exhaust valveautomaticallydifferentiate the pressures between' the incoming andoutgoing charges and thereby control the power of the engine.

Still another object is to provide an economical and reliable internalcombustion engine of simple construction.

Further objects and advantages will be come apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

`With these objects in view the invention comprises the improvements andcombination of parts hereinafter described and pointed out in theappended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawj ings inwhich Figure 1- is a sectional elevation of one exemplification of theinvention, Fig. 2 is a diagram of the operating cycleA of the engine,and Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views showing the relativepositions of the working parts during an operating cycle.

ln these views the numeral 9 is the power cylinder having a piston 10,coupledv by means of a connecting rod ,11, to the crank 12 of the shaft13. rlhe opposed surfaces of the cylinder head and piston arepreferably7 reversely dished as at 9l and 10'EL respectively. The inneror head end ofl the cylinder communicates with the exhaust passage 15through a circumferential port 16 in 'a sleeve 17. A. piston valve 18 ofthe inverted trunk type, provided with conventional packing rings l18aoperates'in the sleeve 17 to control the escape of the exhaust. A link20 connects the valve 13 with a rocking lever 21, the outer end of whichis connected by means of a reach rod 22 to a block 23 slidablein aslotted linked 24. A pair of eccentrics 25, keyed to the shaft 13, havetheir rods pivotally connected with the ends of the slotted link 24:. Byshifting the said link relatively to the position of the block 23 theposition of the valve 18 may be changed after the manner of the knownslotted link reversing gear. At or nearthe outer end of the stroke ofthe piston 1s a circumferential port 30 for inlet of the new charge,which may be in the nature of a combustible mixture or air alone. ln thelatter case, liquid fuel is admitted at the proper point of the stroke,which may be either'before or after the admission of the air charge,through a needle valve 31 acting against the seat of a valve bodyp32into which the fuel flows from any extraneous source through a pipe 33.The liquid fuel from an overhead reservoir, so that it isA positivelyinjected into the cylinder. The means for admitting liquid fuel, whenemployed, is preferably located in the side of the cylinder adjacent andabove the air port 30. A small passage 37, leading from the seat of theliquid fuel valve, is inclined so as to direct the issuing jet of liquidcentrally against the dished head 10a of the piston where it isVvaporized by the heat of the metal, and mingles with the stratum'of air,which is entering through the port 30.

The valve 31 is normally closed by a spring 44 finding an abutmentagainst a bracket 46 and bearing against an adjustable stop 36 on thevalve spindle. The latter is opened by means of a bellscrank lever 35fulcrumed on the bracket and having one arm positioned to .contact withthe collar 36, and the other arm arranged to be lifted by a latchingmember 38, which is moved up and down by an eccentric 42 acting througha rod 41. The said latch 38 is pivoted at 39 to a head 40 on the upperend of the rod 41, and is pressed to the left against a rigid shoulderby a spring 45. A link 43, pivoted at opposite ends about the pivotalaxis of the bell-crank 35 and the latch 38, operates `on the upwardmovement to force the head 40 to the right, so that at a predeterminedpoint of the stroke, after the fuel valve 31 has been opened for theproper period, the latch 38 escapes ,from the end of the horizontal armof the bell-crank by virtue of which the spring 44 is free to close saidvalve. After the latch passes from under the horizontal arm of thebell-crank it moves to the right about its pivot 39 so that theeccentric rod 41 is not forced too far to the right. On the downwardmovement the latch 38 snaps back beneath the bell crank 35.

As a mode of ignition an electric jump spark plug is shown, but it isclear any other inode can be used.

In the operation of the engine commencing with the piston at theoutermost position shown in Fig. 1 which corresponds to point a on thediagram Fig. 2, atmospheric pressure has now full access to the interiorof the cylinder 9 and a charge of air or of combustible mixture rushesin through the inlet port 30 at the coolest pointof the cylinder, i. e.the part thereof which is farthest away from where ignition first takesplace. This occurs before the exhaust port 16 is opened so lthat the newcharge is admitted to the power cylinder while the partial vacuum existstherein and before the burned gases have escaped. In the position of thepiston 10 indicated in Fig..3 the piston has just closed theinlet portand the valve 18 has uncovered the exhaust 'port through which the spentgases pass out at normal pressure after the admission of the new chargeuntil the position of the piston indicated in Fig. 4 is reached, whichcorresponds to point b in Fig. 2. Now compression commences andcontinuesup to point c Fig. 2, shown also by the position of the pistonin Fig. 5,.-which is at the hottest part of the cylinder, wherewith theAnew charge is allowed to come in contact only at the conclusion of thereturn stroke of the piston. Combustion now takes place and the pressurewithin the cylinder rises up to d whereafter the gases expand on theline e until the position represented by Fig. 6 is reached,corresponding to f on the atmospheric line. From this point the gasesexpand, below the atmospheric pressure so that a partial vacuum isformed directly in the cylinder on the same side of the piston where theexplosion occurred. This point corresponds to g in Fig. 2 and the movingparts are in the position indicated in Fig. 7. As the piston moves stillfarther outward the inlet port is uncovered and the vacuum broken, whichcauses the fresh charge to rush into the cylinder and equalize ornormalize the pressure therein. This completes the cycle of operation,the several steps whereof all take place on the one and same `nisms areso timed that the exhaust takes place after the admission of the newcharge, and the injection of fuel` when this is employed, occurs eitherbefore or after the admission of the air charge. The exhaust valve isalso timed to close its port at a point in the latter part of the returnstrole so as to secure thevmode of operation specified.

When it is desired to reverse the engine the slotted link 24 is movedrelatively to the block 23, thereby causing the exhaust valve 18 toclose earlier and entrap in the cylinder a certain amount of the exhaustgases which act as a buffer, and when the piston 10 pushes the freshcharge against this buffer the coinpression rises high enough topre-ignite the combustible mixture before the piston reaches the end ofits inward stroke, whereby the direction of motion thereof is arrestedand reversed, the engine running equally as well in either direction. Ifthe link 24 is moved a lesser amount, not sufficient to cause the valve18 to entrap enough of the exhaust gases, no reversal of the engine willtake place, but still the new charge will ignite by compression againstthe entrapped exhaust gas while the engine continues to run' in the samedirection.

It will be understood that the charges admitted to the engine are soproportioned to the volume of the cylinder that when the piston is atthe end of its power stroke a Achamber of such size is formed that themames new charge is either forced into the cylinder v in apre-compressed state, or drawn intoit by suction through the action ofthe'piston.

Numerous advantages result from expanding the ignited gases belowatmospheric pressure before the conclusion of the out stroke. All theenergy of the fuel is utilized in the engine, the necessity ofprecompressing the charge, whether the latter be a combustible mixtureobtained from an ordinary carbureter or merely air into which fuel isinjected by thedevice shown, or other known or equivalent means, isavoided. The partial vacuum formed in the power cylinder operates tocushion the piston toward the end of its stroke, without causing it todo the large amount of negative work which is involved in crank casecompression for example. Exhaust and water jacket losses are reduced toa minimum. In expanding the gases of combustion below intake pressurethe temperature is correspondingly reduced, so that the exhaust pipes ormanifolds do not have to be water-cooled and burning of corners or edgesof cylinder ports and piston by the -iiow of the gases is avoided. lnfact, the

smaller sizes of engines can be used without water-cooling theircylinders. Silencing or muililing can be dispensed with, because theexhaust gases are driven out practically at atmospheric pressure. When acharge of combustible mixture or fuel is drawn in or injected into thepartial vacuumformed in the cylinder perfect vaporization of anyentrained liquid fuel is insured. By first forming a vacuum and thenopening the communication for admission of charging air, or ofcombustible mixture, the charge will rush into the cylinder withconsiderable velocity, and by reason of its momentum will morecompletely fill that portion of the cylinder intended for it than ifdrawn in gradually. 0n account of the exhaust gases having aconsiderably lowered temperature they will not ignite the fresh mixtureand cause back-firing or pre-ignition.

While the valve controlling the exhaust has been shown as located in thehead of the cylinder and the air or combustible mixture inlet port atthe opposite end thereof, the construction is not necessarily limited tothis preferred arrangement. Further no limitation is intended as to thelocation of the fuel injecting device, as this may be constructed andarranged to deliver into the compression space at or about the end ofthe return stroke of the piston.

It will be readily understood that a double acting engine using oneinlet port may be constructed on the same principle which has beendisclosed.

Having described my invention what l desire to secure by Letters Patentand claim 1s 1. The herein described method of operating an engine undera dierential pressure cycle by the combustion of an ignitible charge,which consists in expanding the burnt gases in the cylinder until theirpressure is reduced to less than that of the atmosphere or intake, andopening the cylinder when the piston is at or near the end of itsoutstroke so that a new charge at normal pressure will spontaneouslyenter by virtue of the difference between terminal and intake pressures.

2. The method ofl operating an engine under a differential pressurecycle by the combustion of an ignitible charge, which consists incarrying on the expansion of the burnt gases in a closed cylinder untiltheir pressure is reduced to less than the intake or atmosphericpressure, opening the cylinder so that a new charge at normal pressurewill spontaneously enter thereinto by virtue of the difference betweenterminal and intake pressures when the piston is at or near' the end ofits outstroke, the new charge entering the cylinder at its coolest pointand displacing the gases of combustion adjacent the face of the piston,the burnt gases being forced out ahead of this charge in the directionof the return stroke of the piston whereby the new charge reaches thehottestl part of the cylinder only during compression, which occurs atthe last part of the return stroke, thus assuring properly timedigniton. V

3. The method of operating an engine under a differential pressure cycleby the combustion of an ignitible charge, which consists inuninterruptedly expanding the burnt gases until the pressure thereof isreduced to less than that of the intake or atmospheric pressure, openingthe cylinder so that a new charge at normal pressure will spontaneouslyenter thereinto by virtue of the difference between terminal and intakepressures when the piston is at or near the end of its outstroke,forcing out the burnt gases ahead of the new charge, and causing theexhaust valve to automatically di'erentiate the pressures between theincoming and outgoing charges, thereby varying the point at whichignition occurs and consequently the power of the engine.

4. A combustion engine operating under a di'erential pressure cyclecomprising a cylinder, a piston therein .allowingl the,

burned gases to expand below intake pressure, said cylinder having theinlet and exhaust at opposite ends, said piston uncovering the inlet ator near the end of the outstroke thereof to permit spontaneous entranceof a new charge at normal pressure adjacent Tto the face of the'pistonafter the inferior pressure has been obtained inthe cylinder,

the exhaust permitting of the burnt gases being driven out ahead of thenew charge on the return stroke of the piston,`and means capable ofautomatically differentiating the pressures between the incoming andoutgoing charges and controlling said exhaust so that the piston during`the last part of its return stroke causes compression of the newcharge, whereafter ignition takes place.

5. A two cycle combustion engine operating under automaticallydierentiating pres-` "the cylinder spontaneously after the inferiorpressure has been obtained therein, the charge received in the cylinderbeing solely due to the dilferencebetween terminal and intake pressuresand displacing the burnt gases adjacent to the piston, the amount of thenew charge being determined by the equalization of the interior andintake pressures, said cylinder having at the opposite end to the inletan exhaust port through which the burnt gases precedin the new chargeare driven out on the return stroke of the piston, and a valve for saidexhaust port capable of automatically differentiating the pressuresbetween' the incoming and outgoing charges and controlling thecompression of the new charge by the piston on the last part of itsreturn stroke, the ignition of the charge occurring thereafter, and theother steps inthe operative cycle lall taking place on the one side ofthe piston.

6. A two-cycle combustion en 'ne operating under automatically dierentiating pressures comprising a cylinder, a piston in the latterallowing the burned gases to expand below intake pressure, said cylinderhaving an inlet port at its coolest point adjacent to .the face of thepiston, at or near the end yof the outstroke thereof, said pistonuncovering said inlet port to admit of a new charge at normal pressurespontaneously eni tering the cylinder after the inferior pressure hasbeen obtained'therein, the charge received in the cylinder being duesolely to the difference between terminal and intake pressures andrepelling the burnt gases from thepi'ston, the v displaced gasesisolating the new charge from the hottest part of the cylinder where thecombustion takes place, said cylinder having at the opposite end to theinlet an exhaust port through which the burnt gases preceding the newcharge are driven out on'the return stroke of the piston previously tothe combustion of the new charge, and a valve capable of automaticallydifferentiating the pressures between the incoming and outgoing chargesand controlling the escape of the burnt gases and the compression of thenew charge by the piston duringthe last part of its return stroke, theamount of escape of the burnt gases determining the quantity of newcharge entering the cylinder at normal pressure while the exhaust isclosed.

7.. A two-cycle combustion engine operating under automaticallydifferentiating pressures wherein the steps constituting the operativecycle take p lace on the same side of' the piston, comprising acylinder, a piston therein allowing the burned gases to expand belowintake pressure, said cylinder having an inlet port at the remote pointfrom where the combustion takes place, said piston when at or near theend of its outstroke uncovering said inlet port to admit of a new chargekentering the cylinder at the coolest point thereof solely by reason ofthe inherent conditions existing therein, after the inferior pressurehas been obtained, the char e received in the cylinder repelling theurnt gases from the face of the piston, the displaced gases preventingthe new charge from coming in contact with the hottest part of thecylinder, the latter being provided with an exhaust port, and valvemechanism therefor capable of automatically differentiating thepressures between the incoming and outgoing charges, said mech- ,anismincluding an adjustable connection between the valve and the pistonwhereby the former will open at different points in the stroke of thelatter so that the burnt gases preceding the new charge may be drivenout previously to the combustion thereof, whereby the quantity of newcharge entering the cylinder is determined, said exhaust valve beingalso capable of closing at diii'erent points during the last part of thereturn stroke of the piston so as to enytrap variable amounts of theburnt gases and thereby govern the compression and ignition.

8. A combustion engine operating under a differential pressure cyclecomprising a self-charging working cylinder with inlet and exhaust atopposite ends thereof, a piston reciprocable in said cylinder to andbeyond the outer edge of said inlet, the cylinder allowing expansion ofthe burned gases below intake pressure duringthe outstroke ofthe pistonand subsequently permittingJ the spontaneous entrance of a new chargering- -ing the pressure therein to normal, lthe lnew charge admitted byvirtue of the difference existing between the terminal pressure withinthe cylinder and the intake pressure and displacing the burnt gases fromthe face of the piston, repelling them in the direction of the exhaust,and valve mechanism controlling t'he latter Capable of automaticallydiferentiating the pressures between the incoming and outgoing charges,said mechanism including an element moved by the piston, and aconnection between the element and said valve whereby the exhaust may beopened during the first part of the return stroke of the piston to letout the burnt gases while the new charge reaches the point of 15compression, and closed during the last part of the return stroke as thecharge is being compressed and ignited.

Signed in the borough of Manhattan in the county York this 20th day ofDecember A. D. 1912.

REINHOLD JUHNSON.

Witnesses:

H. C. KARLSON, W. H. GEB.

of New York and State of New 20

